2317 t^^^t^ ^- /^^^r^^^^^ 

ay 1 



A SERMON 

PRKACHKl) ON THE (JCCASION OF THE DEATH OK 

Miss Mary Elizabeth Tenny, 

3fot|nK'i; itfrincipal of ft^oivtebcUo Ii^stitute. 

TX THE — 

Congregational Church, Newbury, Vermont, 

February 15, 1880. 
BY 

REV. S. L. BATES, PASTOR. 



I*Hl>3iMlieJ by SSequesiil 



BRADFORD, VERMONT : i 

OHANGE COrXTY PL:BLI;!;ni\G COMPANY PRINTKK.S. 



A SERMON 

PREACHED ON THE OCCASION OF THE DEATH OF 

Miss Mary Elizabeth Tenny, 

!lfoi|met| Jfr^incipal of ^.ontcbcllo Institute. 

IN THE — 

Congregational Church, Newbury, Vermont, 

February 15. 1880. 
liY 

REV. S. L. BATES, PASTOR. 



I*iibli«li04l by Request. 



BRADFORD, VERMONT : 

OUANGi; COUNTY PrRI.I.SHING COMPANY PRINTERS. 

18,S0. 









t 



SERMON. 



The KiGiiTKois Pekisiiktii. * * * and Mercii-il Men- 
are Taken Away, None C'onsidekinc; that the Rkhit- 
Eous IS Taken Away eroji the Kvh. to Cojh:. He shall 
Enter into Peace : They shall Kest in theh: Ijeds, 
Each one AValkinoin His Uprkhitness. — Isaiah. .')7 : 1-2. 

There is tui ohvious (.•oniu'ctioii hetwooii those mid the elosing 
words of the preceeding chapter. Here, however, the ijrophet 
presents a pleasing picture, l)iit there a sad and gloomy one. 
At the time he spoke in sncli striking contnist, there was a 
most akarniing profligacn* among the rulers of the Jewish people. 
By their avarice and faithlessness, they had desecrated alike 
both throne and altar. Fully understanding the nature of their 
crime, the prophet utters severe denunciations against them. 
But scarcely do the words escape his lii)s before he is permitted 
to take a prophetic view of the long future. In this he sees at 
the distance of ninety years, one beautiful exception to this 
wide spread corruption in high places. It was the reign of king 
Josiah who came to the throne at the tender age of eight years. 
In the opinion of some commentators, he is the righteous one of 
whom the i)rophet speaks. At all events his career fully answered 
Isaiah's prophetic description, and proved him worthy of the 
titles he eniplovs. For this reason, and )jecause the case of 
Josiah })resents the thoughts suited to our present purpose, we 
will suppose that the common interpretation of the text is the 
c(»rrect one. 

The character of this youthful monarch is set forth by very 
explicit declarations of Holy Writ. We read that * dike unto him 
there Avas no king before him that turned unto the Lord with all 
his heart, and with all his soul, and with all his might ; neither 
after him arose there any like him." Eight years after he 
began his reign, hi' came under the exalting [)ower of ))ersonal 
piety, and from that time, on through successive years, he 
served liis people most faithfully, in the cai)acitv of both priest 
and king. The most iini)ortant acts of his reign, were the 



•6 

destruction <»f \\\v idolatries sanctioned by his predecessors, 
the restoration of the temple worshii) in all its former purity, 
and above all. the eonvoeation of the people in the old feast of 
the Passover, when all Israel, as in times past, publicly renewed 
their covenant with tiieir fathers' (iod. lint, while in the very 
flower of his youlli. and at the very height of his usefulness, 
his lift- is suddenly cut short. On the l)attlelield ol Ihidadrim- 
mon, where he had gone to interce[)t the march of Pharaoh- 
neclio, he receives a fatal wound, and is l)rought back dead to 
his i)alace in -U'rusalem. We need not be told that the :;ational 
grief over this mysterious event, was deei) and excessive. 
Tradition says, that for many years, a funeral dirge was annu- 
ally sung on the si)ot Avhere it took i)lace. However this may 
be, the prophet Zechariah suggests the fact of unusual sorrow 
over the e\ent. lie employs it as a ligure to represent the great 
future mourning and repentance of tlie Jews. ''In that day." 
says he, ''there shall be a great mourning at .lerusalem, as the 
mourning of IIa(hvdrininion in the valley oi" Megiddon." A\'ith 
a clear view of these facts and scenes, as is sui)i)osed. Isaiah 
breaks Ibrth in the utterance of the text: '-The righteous [)er- 
isheth, and merciful men are taken away, none co"^i<^^fi"iiig' that 
the righteous is taken away from the evil to come. He shall 
enter into peace ; they shall rest in their l)eds, each one walking 
in his uprightness." 

In these ))rief exin'essions, he gives an intimation both of the 
fact and the mystery of the sudden close of an upright and use- 
ful life. He also hints at some of the instructive and comfort- 
ing lessons enforced by it. Though s[)eaking of Josiah, he utters 
truths of common imi)ort. As if he had said that the case 
Avhich just then stood out so clearly to his view, was but an 
illustrati(ni of universal I'xperience. We can easily imagine 
something of the shadow of doubt and fear that fell upon Israel 
at the sudden (U-ath of Josiah ; and most of us can tell, from 
the depths of our hearts, of the mystery of death whenever it 
cuts short a useful life. There are many cherished names now 
Avritten upon toinh-^toiics — names ol" those whose sun has gone 
down at the noonday of life, or perchanci' ere yet it was day. 



Why tliis should lie wo ai'o hnttlcd in all our atteinpts; to uiiiler- 
Htiunl. That men and wonieii who are truly leaders in the gen- 
eral ongoings of social Ufe, are suddenly taken I'roni the spheres 
of their usefuhiess — that wise and aft'eetionate parents, iii)ou 
whom apparently depend the welfare of helpless childriMi, are 
cut down, and their tender work turned over to other iiands, is 
not only mysterious, but at first sight, utterly inconsistent with 
divine wisdom and love. 

Dispensations like these, do indeed seem almost like a failure 
of God's gracious designs. To human view — as has lieen linclv 
expressed — "it is the architect just completing his work, when 
that work comes with a crash to the ground — the sculptor put- 
ting the finishing strokes of his chisel on the pure white marl)le, 
when the toil of months or years, strews the. floor of his studio 
— the gardener bringing from Iiis conservatory tlie long luis- 
Itanded plants to receive the early summer sun, wlien a frost 
suddenly comes, and in one night they have perisjied." Say as 
we will, and say truly too, tlie mystery of what we I'egard as an 
untimely dt'ath, is strange and startling. It seems altogether 
reasonable as well as natural that the aged should ])e taken 
either from a course of iniquity, or from a life of christian devo- 
tion. According as their lives have been, they go to cut short 
a corrupting influence on eartli. or to pei-petuate a noble char- 
acter and influence in a better world. Ibit when tlie young, or 
those in the full vigor of life, ai'o taken from spheres of special 
usefulness, from labors which apparently need theii- directing' 
hand, we are utterly silenced in any attempt to solve the m3-s- 
tery of Providence.. The world, we are sure, can poorly spare 
such ornaments of its society, and such forces fV)r its good. 
Instinctively we ask, whei-e is tlie wisdom of all this. Even 
with the assurances of a heavenly faith, we wonder why it is 
that the all wise (4o(l has nurtured affections and awakened 
hopes only to bring them to an untimely end. Yes we wonder 
to-day why it is that He has taken away a nolile woman from a 
wide sphere of usefulness, and from tlie ti'uder relations of 
friendship, and cut short a blessed life in thi' noonday of its 
power. 



8 

Al this point it istlmt tlii' tii<)U«ilits of the text are opened tons 
as fountains of special instruction and comfort. The i)rophet. 
we ol)ser\-e, does not look merely upon the dark side of the 
picture presented to him ; indeed he does not look upon this 
at all, exct'pt to bring into greater prominence and glory the 
side of hope and cheer. AVhile he reminds us of the mystery 
and loss that are always hn-oived in an untimely death, he points 
to the glorious facts by winch lie would have \is interpret the 
meaning and light up the gloom of the dark dispensation. 
••JNIerciful men are taken away, none considering that the right- 
eous is taken aAvay from tlie evd to come." In the case of 
Josiah these words had a peculiar application. Only a few years 
after his death, Ids unhappy city was invaded liy the armies of 
Babylon and brought to suffer all the horrors of siege, of torture 
and of captivity, deferring to this, and thinking of Josiah 
peacefully sleeping with his fathers, the prophet Jeremiah says 
to the nation of mourners, ''Weep ye not for the dead, neither 
bemoan him ; but weep sore for him that goethawa^', for he shall 
return no more, nor see his native country." It was emphatically 
truetliat ho was taken away from the evil to come — even as the 
Lordhad intimated to him, saying, "•Thou shaltbe gathered to thy 
grave in peace, and thine eyes sliall not sec the evil that I will 
bring upon this place." 

But the words of the text, we may l)e assured, liave an api)li- 
cation to all cases similar to that of Josiah. Even when we 
cannot see any gleams of light or comfort in the nntimely death 
of friends, it is yet true tliat tlie\' are taken from the evil to 
come. Sometimes we live long enough to see that the removal 
of those that Ave could least of all afford to lose from their 
splieres of labor, was a most merciful interi)osition in their be- 
half. Overwhelming trials in some form, Avereonly a little fur- 
ther on in tlie path they Avere going. Perha[)s some crushing 
sorrow awaited them ; perhaps an utter Avreck of earthly hopes 
and earthly good. Even in cases Avhere sin and temptation 
could exert no poAver, and AA'herethe ills of life Avould))e braA'ely 
l>orne, it is true that the great conflict of life itself, and the 
many responsiltilities it imposes, are tilings from Avhicli the 



9 

christian, in the warmest devotion to liis Master, may legiti- 
matel}- long to be released. While it is a joy to live and lal>or 
lor Christ, and every true christian seeks that joy, it is still bet- 
ter to depart and be with C'luist. Life, even in its brightest 
phases, is a state of unrest and suflering, and they who are 
taken from their most useful labors, have escaped untold 
evils. AVe may not say that early death robs life of its mean- 
ing and attractions ; for "l)etter is the brief loan with its hal- 
lowed fruits and undarkened memories, tiian the prolonged 
life with its possible evils and pains." 

But the text throws a yet brighter light ui)on tlie mystery of 
untimely death. It suggests not merely tiie fact that those 
who are thus taken from us are delivered from future evils, but, 
indirectly at least, the idea that they arc advanced to a higher 
blessedness. This is intimated by the expression, '"They shall 
enter into peace ; they shall rest in their beds, each one walk- 
ing in his uprightness." The language of the passage, to be 
sure, may be taken to refer simply to the peaceful rest of the 
grave. Still the idea it suggests is something more than peace 
in sleep ; it is the peace which tlie dying saint experiences in 
his departure from the labors and the joys of earth. Ph-en 
while the ties of earth are being sundered, tlie peace of the heaven- 
ly world, whither he is going, pei-vades his soul. The expres- 
sion tiien, is one which beautifully presents tlie Old Testament 
conception of the immediate Itlessedness of the righteous. 
Hence the cheering force of the entire passage. While the bodv 
rests in the grave as in a peaceful bed. the Spirit that walked 
so uprightly in the paths of duty and piety here, continues this 
same upright walk in a higher and holier state of existence. 
Our grief at the sudden removal of the righteous from their 
active labors, is altogether unhallowed grief, unless we take to 
ourselves the assurance gleaned from so much of (Jod's word, 
that tlu'ir ministries an' only transferred to a loftii'r state. 
Heaven, we must remenilter, is l)ut an t'xpausion and ilevelop- 
nient of the characteristic traits of earth, even as we i-ead; — 
••He that is righteous let him l>e righteous still ; and he that is 
holy let him l)e holy still." In this view the jirophet's words — 



10 

"taken away" — have an especial (brco. ' 'The righteous is taken 
awa}' ;" — not cut off as hy some \iolent, unmeaning power, 
and Ijorne away from friendship and happiness, and from all 
association with living souls ; not this, but gathered to those 
who are gone before — to the great company of the sainted 
dead. We are wont to think of the home of the dead as a 
"silent deserted shore," but so far from this it is a "harl)or 
crowded with the loving and the glorified." The early death 
of Josiah, the untimely removal of a fond [)arent, the sudden 
call of a beloved teacher and friend, is only a summons to fel- 
lowship and communion with the good and true of all ages, 
even as the poet suggests : — 

" The mourners throng the way, and from the steei)le 

The funeral-bell tolls slow : 
But on the golden streets the holy people 

Are passing to and fro ; 
And saying, as they meet, ' Rejoice ! another 

To early bliss has come ; ' 
The Saviour's heart is glad, a younger brother 

Hath reached the Father's home ! " 

The mystery of death must never be rendered insoluble by 
any thoughts of eternal silence, or even of suspension from 
conscious activity. It is true the life so precious to us fades 
from our view, but it shines forth, we are assured, in other sec- 
tions of God's vast world. Indeed we may confidently feel 
.that whatever path of uprightness our dejiarted ones followed 
on earth, they are following still. P'or the text allows us to 
rise above the negative solace which comes from the thought of 
their relei! so from weary labor and distressing pains, to the 
bright assurance that they do enter into peace, and walk in 
tlieir uprightness. 

Still another thought comes legitimately and consolingly, in 
this connection, if not directly suggested by the text. It is 
that of the continued relation of those removed from useful 
labors, to ns who remain. While the bodies of the righteous 
rest in the bed of the grave, and their Spirits, amid the peace 
of heaven, pursue their onward path of hliss, they have not in 
the truest sense, bid farewell to their earthly spheres. To be 
sure we miss their presence, and no longer hear their words of 



11 

instruct LOU and love, liut the righteous can never die. Tlicy 
live with us, even after they are gone from ns. In their death- 
less memories of goodness and worth, and in the influence of 
their labors while with us, the}' continue to walk in our midst. 
We cannot enclose their uprightness in their burial caskets, nor 
carve their worth on their tombstones. King Josiah died, and 
was borne away to the tombs of Jerusalem, and all Israel 
mourned for him. We read that his deeds, first and last, were 
written in the Book of the Kings of Israel and Judali ; and in 
one sense this was true. But in another, they were written in 
a more enduring volume, even on his own nation's heart, and 
in the chronicles of the great and good of all times. And so 
it is that the character and love of the upright who are taken 
from ns, are inwrought into our very being ; so it is that the 
light of their lives always beams upon our pathway and contin- 
ually warms our hearts. 

The thoughts which our text has now opened to us, have an 
especial application to the providence which brings such sadness 
to our hearts to-day . The name of INIary P^lizabeth Tenny will al- 
ways be spoken with profound reverence and with tender affection , 
by all who knew her excellence, undAvere observant of her life- 
work. I'o such indeed her name will ever be associated with a 
noble character anda useful life, llerrelations to this communi- 
t}', were such as to awaken inns all special admiration and thank- 
fulness for what she was and what she did. Fitted for a wide 
sphere of usefulness, by natural endowments and by the culture of 
a christian home and a christian school, she gave herself, at the 
close of her school-life, to the nol)le work of teaching. How 
thorough was her consecration to this work, and how complete 
her fitness for it, were apparent to all who were acquainted with 
the methods and results of her laltors. To her, teaching was 
not merely a calling, it Avas a life. The one thought and desire 
of her soul evidently was, to fuUll the grand purposes of her 
existence in her chosen work. Hence the routine of duty was 
only the frame-work of ser\i('e for her Master and her genera- 
tion. Hence the mental and jnoral advancement of each under 
lier charge, the great aim and satisfaction of her life. In all 



12 

lior ivlations to her pupils, hotli in direct instruction iind in gen- 
eral influence, it was iilwjiys apparent that she labored to devel- 
o}) in each, a noble character, a conscientious thoughtfulness, 
and a self-reliant intelligence. Few persons, it is sale to say, 
have had higher aims and a deeper interest in the work of teach- 
ing than she. After laboring for a few jears as principal 
of ''GleuAvood .Seminarv," at West Brattleboro of this state, 
she opened the '^Montebello Institute" in this place. It was 
here that she reached the special heights of her great usefulness. 
This is not the time for eulog}' of her character and work, nor 
is any demanded except that which comes spontaneous from 
many hearts and lips ; but it is not too much to say now that 
her influence and labors in this place were of incalculable value, 
not only to those who received her instructions, but to the 
community at large. Her coming to us as teacher and chris- 
tian worker was an era to the community. With it a new 
impulse was given to mental and moral training, which will be 
felt for generations to come. We cannot estimate in this life, 
the blessings which her labors, in the six years she was here, 
have brought to the hearts and lives of tlie young around us. 
It is no wonder that a character of such power and promise, 
was sought for the higher spheres of learning ; but that her 
noble life should be cut short, just as it had apparently risen to 
a wider reach of usefulness and power, is strange and myste- 
rious. Mysterious indeed that right from successful labors, 
she should be called to fold her hands in quietude, under the 
l)ower of disease, and at last to depart from the friends and the 
work slie loved. And yet this providence so dark to us now, 
when viewed in the light of the thoughts suggested by the text, 
presents a meaning that serves both to illumine and console. 
To say nothing of the removal of our friend beyond the hin- 
drances of possible weakness and pain, we have the positive 
assurance, from abundant sources, that her last summons was 
to a higher sphere and a loftier work. No longer is she limited 
in her ability as to the service of CJod, for she is removed to 
that world "where the power of imparting good is equal to the 
will ;" and th(jugh taken from thf dutii-s and the joys of earth. 



13 

she yet lives, and lives too upon earth. Her name is euibahned 
with all that loving hearts can give, and her spirit, her char- 
acter, all that made her the noble woman she was, is silentl3' 
working in the souls of all who came under her influence. Not- 
withstanding her premature departure from earth, the old prom- 
ise dictated by the sweet singer of Israel, is literallv true regard- 
ing her ; "With long life will I satisfy- him and show him my 
salvation." For life, remember, cannot be computed by formal 
arithmetic, nor measured by da^'s, nor months, nor years. The 
greatest length of years possilile to us, if it goes to make up a 
misspent life, is no life at all. It is only a kind of bankruptcy 
of being. That is really a long life "which answers life's great 
end," and which, though it shines only for a brief season, leaves 
a trail of light behind to bless mankind and honor God. 

Our subject then, while it brings such light and comfort to 
our sorrowing hearts, enforces also this most important truth. 
I present it in familiar words ; "God measures life b}- deeds, 
not by years ; not b}- beat of pulse or SAving of pendulum, but 
by holy memories and aspirations." AVith him t7iar«(;/cr is life, 
not years ; goodness is life, not years. "The righteous" — how- 
ever few or many their days here, "shall be had in everlasting 
remembrance." That is the noble lifetime, the true length of 
days, which survives the tomb in its influence for good ; which 
blesses humanity and honors God, long after its existence in 
years is ended. Our desires for a long life, cannot be 
satisfied by extended periods of time, but by an upright walk 
before (Jod. If wf live Avell we shall live long If we serve 
our own generation by the will of God, we shall know true sat- 
isfaction in our present state, shall at last be gathered in peace 
to the loved and glorified, and shall live long after our depart- 
ure fronr earth, in the tender memories of those avc have loved 
and served. And this is the "heritage of tliose that fear the 
name of the Lord." It is life in the divinest sense, "even 
lenuth of davs forever and ever." 



LIBRftRY OF CONGRESS 




022 159 



■L 

>9 028 4 % 



